Brooks wants B.C. Conservative job back

Dan Brooks says a costly legal dispute within the fractious B.C. Conservative Party “is going nowhere” and he will stand as a candidate for leader in next year’s election.

Brooks resigned in early January as leader of the troubled B.C. Conservative Party, saying he could no longer serve as “volunteer leader” while maintaining his family and business commitments. The abrupt resignation came after he toured the province in November 2015, recruiting candidates.

Brooks issued a statement Friday saying the lawsuit by a “losing candidate” for leadership no longer was a financial burden to him personally, and he would seek the party leadership in a vote in September.

Brooks ran for the party in Nechako Lakes in 2013, finishing third behind B.C. Liberal MLA and Aboriginal Relations Minister John Rustad. Brooks owns a guide-outfitter lodge near Vanderhoof and has been outspoken on wildlife and forest management in the B.C. Interior.

Brooks was one of the party directors expelled or censured after they tried to oust former leader John Cummins in 2012. Brooks took over from Cummins after the 2013 B.C. election.